IABSM AAR

May 17, 2020 May 17, 2020/ Robert Avery

A joint/ solo game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum with my son.

Rick Staple

May 14, 2020 May 14, 2020/ Robert Avery

Lately I've been knocking about the idea of a post-WW2 version of my Medieval and 18th century (no, I haven't painted anything for them, or you would know) Imagine-Nation, Mantovia. Mainly, I think as an excuse to field Centurion tanks, without the depressing realities of either post-Colonial Africa or the Arab-Isreali Wars. This coincided with the desire for another solo bash of I Ain't Been Shot Mum! with loads of tanks, so Saturday night I set up the table and then played this out over Sunday and Monday (which I had previously booked off), finally finishing after dinner Monday night.

Brief history

Founded by Count Raymond the Good in the 11th cent. Mantovia was one of many small states in the Holy Roman Empire. Count Ludwig was elevated to King in 1746 as a reward for leading his regiment of grenadiers in the storming of a Prussian battery at the 3rd battle of Klumpenberg. Although some court wags noted that Ludwig's fervor was perhaps the hotter because he wanted to "get this damn battle over with" so he could return to his young and beautiful bride and play for her the new concerto he had just composed.

Even after the Prussian victories of 1866, Mantovia remained loyal to the House of Hapsburg, remaining a quiet, peaceful backwater of sheep and vineyards until it's sunny days were interrupted by the clomping of jackboots in 1938. As the country was absorbed into the Greater German Reich, the tiny Mantovian army was absorbed intto the Wehrmacht as the 816th Infantry Regiment. King Raymond IX knew better than to show open defiance, but quietly instructed his police kommisar to obstruct Nazi policy as much as they could with out attracting the attentions of the feared Heydrich. When war came, the royal palace became the nucleus for a quiet resistance program rescuing allied pilots and gathering intelligence. In early May of 1945, white bedsheets festooned the windows of Mantovia, and flowers greeted Combat Command A, 45th Armored Division. King Raymond met the cigar chewing, mud spattered, hard driving Col. Wilson in his courtyard, dressed in brown tweed. "Thank God you're here. Could you please not park your tanks in my wife's roses? I've been keeping Nazis out of them for the past seven years, be a shame to lose them now. Would your men like some refreshment?"

As the settling Cold War chilled the post-War sunshine, the Mantovian armed forces were rebuilt with British equipment paid for with American money as a buffer against the Soviet threat to the east. The Soviets meanwhile were busy rearming neighbouring Borduria, Mantovia's traditional enemy to the East. "A nation of bandits and blagards!" King Amadeues the III once declared. Mantovian fathers, when disapproving of a daughter's suitor, would declare the young man "Trouble from the east" and glower. Even when both small countries were part of the German Reich, Bordurian and Mantovian troops would always brawl if found near each other, helping the Allied war effort in their own way and causing headaches for German staff officers.

It is now 1949, tensions along the border have grown since a Bordurian Commissar, drunk on slivovitz, started a skirmish with Mantovian Border Police. Sporadic shelling was met with airstrikes. Reserves have been mobilized. Foreign embassies in both capitals have been on high alert. Kampfgruppe Wahl has moved to the frontier near Isabelstadt, quickly digging slit trenches and tank positions, stringing hasty barbed wire across the beet fields.

The Game

I set up the table, made my plan and then sent my friend Scott photos of the table prior to deployment, asking him where to place the Bordurian pregame barrages. He put them pretty much where I expected, along the line of hills, which is why I held my tanks back and dug in my infantry at the foot of the hills along the country road. So I only lost one MMG to the barrage, but had to scramble to get shock off two others before the Bordurian troops arrived.

Bordurian troops mass on the Frontier

Mantovian tanks wait in reserve outside Isabelstadt before moving into prepared fighting positions.

Mantovian Forward Line of Resistance.

1 Platoon is dug in along the dirt road and 2 platoon is dug in around the T-junction. dug in MMGs, 6 pdr AT guns cover them from further back.

Bordurian forces begin rolling forward!

2nd tank platoon and 2nd Rifle platoon both lagging behind. One tank gets bogged in the river.

SU76s race ahead, impatient to get to grips.

Mantovian tanks move up into prepared firing positions

First kill! Lead Bordurian SP gun brews up in a spectcular fireball

Surprise! Bordurians try to close assault the slit trenches around the crossroad

Another uncoordinated assault

Bordurian infantry getting cut up at the barbed wire

Bordurian light bomber misses

Lots of long range tank dueling

3rd tank platoon gets hammered by Fireflies dug in on the ridge line.

1st tank platoon does an out flanking dash using the "Armoured Bonus" card

Mantovian reserves roll through Isabelstadt

Mantovian Firefly knocked out

6 pdr gets a kill! (finally)

Center and right of Bordurian attack. Lot of knocked out or very damaged tanks. No infantry that isn't pinned or shocked

Bordurian left. Again a lot of knocked out and abandoned tanks. Not a lot of infantry left. Only 2 of the Bordurian AFVs in the picture are still functioning, the far left T34/85 and the lonely SU76

Mantovian infantry still holding their line of slit trenches

Phase 2

Since I hadn't achieved my objective of playing with my old Minitanks Centurions, I decided there would be a Phase 2. After all a 2nd Wave would follow on to try and exploit through the bridgehead.

So Monday after lunch, I replaced all of the brewed up T34/85s with T34/76s (the wrecks would obstruct the Mantovian gunnery) and reformed the tanks and infantry on the river bank. I left the surviving platoon and SU76 from the first wave in place in the woods east of the T-junction. I allowed a couple of turns of movement to redeploy existing forces.

2nd wave advances

2 Platoon under a barrage. They lost their platoon commander in the first attack, and really I should have allowed a new Big Man during the reorganization phase between attacks.

Bordurians are putting most of their weight on the left, using the woods as cover...

…but the Mantovian HQ is calling a barrage down on the infantry, causing a few casualties but mostly just slowing them down

Centurions get into position

Airstrike! 1st Armoured Platoon HQ hit, gun knocked out. Tank withdraws to the rear and the Plt Cmdr moves to the next tank over.

The green Epic 40K dice is being used to mark tank platoon orders. In this case "Engage" limiting movement, but giving a +1 to shooting.

"Contact right! Tanks. 300 meters. Fire!" 20 pounders firng APDS blast the Bordurian left hook.

Carl Gustav firing from 2 Platoon takes last T34 in the flank, brewing it up. Which was the only decent result the Carl Gs had all game to be honest. I let each platoon have one team.

The barrage lifts and the Bordurians make a more coordinated assault with an SMG platoon.

After a furious exchange of short range fire and hand grenades, the SMG Platoon is all but wiped out. In 2 Platoon, 1 Section is gone and 2 and 3 sections are down to 4 men each.

Long range gunnery duel finally gets results. Bordurian 2nd tank platoon is destroyed, one T34 exploding dramatically.

That last turn of shooting from the Centurions took the wind out of the Bordurian advance.

The 3rd (and only remaining) Tank platoon is pretty shot up. 1 tank bailed out and the other 2 withdraw heavily damaged.

Mantovian front lit up by burning tanks

Wanted to see the LED burning markers looked like under low light

Aftermath

The Butcher's Bill was terrible for Borduria; 12x T34/85s and 2x SU76s destroyed or abandoned and approx 150 men killed and captured. Mantovia lost 1 officer and 25 other ranks KIA, 1x Firefly destroyed and 1x damaged and 1x Centurion damaged.

Being dug in really saved the day plus liberal use of supporting fires ("Mortar" and "Machine Gun Bonus" cards turned up frequently) disrupted the Bordurian infantry so that their assaults could be easily repelled by Mantovian infantry.

Played solo over a couple of days using I Ain't Been Shot Mum. I find the cards make leisurely solo play really easy. You can interrupt the game anytime for family, meals, sleep or even going into work for some overtime like I did, and not lose track of where you are.

The Centurion was designed to be on par with the Panther for armour but the 20 pdr gun with APDS was much better. So I gave them Armour 11 and AP 12. Of course every time I'd roll 5 or 6 successes, thinking I'd get a fireball, the target T34 would roll the same on it's 7 Armour dice. About half of the Bordurian tank casualties were mobility kills or just worn down with piled on shock until the crews bailed out.

So, bags of fun. Been toying with different scales, but I like the look of 15mm. 10mm isn't that much cheaper to be honest and would require all new terrain. In 6mm the infantry just disappear (I really like the look of British early Cold War soldiers in the MkIII helmet covered in hessian and the SLRs) and would also require all new terrain. Once Plastic Soldier Company release their 15mm Centurion kit I'll start building proper forces, with the Bordurians getting some PSC T55s to back up their T34/85s and SUs. Probably use QRF Models Modern British with SLRs for infantry too.

James Manto

More AAR

May 11, 2020 May 11, 2020/ Robert Avery

or That Didn't Go Very Well...

Scott was available to play on Saturday, a rare treat. We opted for WW2 to get the Russians I painted last summer on the table. I opted for mid-war to get my Marders out.

We played the Counterattack scenario from the back of the rule book. Scott had 2 rifle platoons holding the village and the wood to their left. His right was secured by the company HQ with their 2x Maxim guns and 2x 45mm AT guns hiding on a wooded hill. A platoon of T34s, another of SU76s and a third rifle platoon were coming on as reinforcements with the fifth turn of the 'special' card.

I was attacking with 3x platoons of infantry, the company HQ with 2x MG42s supported by 3x PzIVHs and 3x Marder IIIs.

The panzers and MMGs would shoot my infantry in while the Marders secured my left from whatever threat lurked on the wooded ridge.

2x platoons of infantry proceeded to get cut down in front if the village losing a Lieutennant in the first volley. The Russian AT guns hiding on the wooded ridge drew my Marders into a long range duel. The Marders getting the worst of it. One was a mobility kill and bailed out, the 2nd was damaged.

My 3rd rifle platoon did remember to go prone at the end of their advance saving them grief. The Panzer IVs started shelling the village, eventually setting half of it on fire. This was my high point.

More Russian fire killed the other platoon commander and the company commander who was trying to get my 2nd platoon moving. Both platoons were reduced to less than a section each now. The Special card had flipped 4 times now so Scott's reinforcements were close.

Time to accept defeat.

I should have shifted everything to my right so I could take those woods in isolation and then the village, eating him piecemeal. I also should have taken some mortars in my company HQ and replaced the 3rd platoon with a MMG platoon. I also shouldn't have committed a complete n00b error and used an action at the end of my move to get all my guys prone. Stupid of me, really.

But the flame markers Dan gave me last summer looked super cool.

So there's that.

James Mantos

May 04, 2020 May 04, 2020/ Robert Avery

Time for another lockdown game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum against K, Daughter #1’s boyfriend, trapped with us for the duration.

I used scenario #3 from the Defence of Calais scenario pack: 3RTR at Hames-Boucres. I would take the Brits, K would play the Germans.

The game begins as a squadron of British tanks (a Squadron HQ of an A9 and an A10; two troops of three A13s each; a troop of three MkVIb light tanks; and a couple of recon Dingos) headed in column along a sunken road towards the village of Hames-Boucres (a few miles from Calais) with orders to deal with a few "rogue enemy tanks" that had apparently been spotted roaming around the countryside.

The tabletop at the start of the game: Brits enter from the windmill end

Ahead of them is a crossroads and, as they approach, the lead British tank (a MkVI) spots three Panzer IVs coming in down the road from the left, two Panzer IIs coming in down the road from the right, and some unconfirmed German troops under Blinds heading down the road straight in front of them.

You might have noticed that there are a couple of groups of people on the crossroads itself. These are civilian refugees about to get caught in the crossfire. They would cause both sides, but particularly the British, problems throughout the game: it being not the done thing to shoot or drive through non-combatants.

Refugees, apparently from Vietnam. Well, it is near Calais…

The Action Begins

The Germans were the first to react to the situation. Their Panzer IVs moved up to the hedgeline and opened fire on the British tanks advancing down the road. The lead British tank had already entered the sunken part of the road, so the Germans targeted the third Mark VI and, with a couple of solid hits, knocked it out.

The other two British light tanks scattered, heading towards where the Panzer IIs were coming in from the right. Meanwhile, #1 Troop moved to the hedgerow on their left, aiming to take up a flank position on the Panzer IVs. Up ahead, the British tankers could see a mass of trucks and lorries heading their way. So much for the “few rogue tanks”!

Two of the Panzer IVs were quickly destroyed for no loss, but one of the other Mark VIs was hit by a fluke shot from a Panzer II’s 20mm autocannon and exploded!

At this point, the British #2 troop arrived, and headed forward as fast as possible, seeking to get into a position where they could BESA the enemy infantry before the German foot could get properly positioned.

One German anti-tank gun had had a chance to get forward and set up in the edge of the woods by the crossroads, but neither side was, at this point, prepared to shoot through the refugees on the road.

The final Panzer IV succumbed to fire from a A13 Cruiser, but the delay in dealing with them had now given the Germans time to deploy a second and third anti-tank gun just behind the road cutting the battlefield in two.

The second gun, also near the crossroads, was crewed by sterner chaps than the initial piece: they opened fire on the British Cruisers on the road straight through the refugees who had been running backwards and forwards between the two sides.

This display of heartlessness inspired the crew of the first gun, helped by the company commander arriving to encourage them into action: they also opened fire down the road. The British tanks, still reluctant to shoot through the civilians, could only suffer and take casualties!

With German anti-tank guns now firmly in possession of the crossroads and no infantry available to winkle them out, the British had no choice but to retire back towards Calais. The day belonged to Jerry!

Aftermath

This was K’s second game of IABSM and his first win. He was very pleased with how he’d done: using his tanks to delay the superior numbers of British armour getting forward whilst his anti-tank guns got into position…at which point it was effectively “game over” for 3RTR!

I last played this scenario ten years ago: umpiring at a Lardy games day using curtains as a cloth as I’d left my mat at home. It has really stood the test of time: we played it out in about two hours, also making it ideal for a club night encounter.

What did strike me, as I re-read the background info I’d provided when I wrote the Defence of Calais pack, was how badly the British mis-managed the early part of the Calais campaign. Politics aside, it is one long tale of unpreparedness and confusion…making it all the more remarkable that this Friday we’re celebrating the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

Robert Avery

April 27, 2020 April 27, 2020/ Robert Avery

It was time for the first lockdown game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum!

The daughter’s boyfriend (trapped here for the duration) had tried and enjoyed To The Strongest, it was now time to introduce him to WW2 gaming, and what better place to start than with a game of IABSM set in Poland on 1st September 1939.

The Scenario

The scenario is taken from the first September War scenario pack, and involves the fighting around Chojnice, an important Polish communications hub where, during the first day of the invasion, the Poles fought a delaying action, only withdrawing in late afternoon.

The game itself centered around a railway bridge that the Poles must hold, rig with explosives, and then blow up before the Germans can take the bridge and defuse the charges.

Nice trees: it obviously does snow in september (obscure arnhem reference!)

As you can see in the picture, above, there are actually two bridges over the otherwise impassable river: the railway bridge itself in the centre of the table, and a smaller, road bridge over on the far side of the field. The Germans enter from the far end (you can see their Blinds), the Poles start the game dug in and defending anywhere on their side of the river.

The Forces Involved

As attacking is more difficult than defending, I would take the part of the invading Germans. My force was reconnaissance based: a company of kradschutzen motorcycle infantry (three platoons, each three squads) supported by a machine gun platoon of four guns and a platoon of four armoured cars: two SdKfz 221 and two SdKfz 222.

As I had no heavy weapons with which to whittle the Poles down, I knew that I had to get on top of them as fast as possible, and that getting across the river would be a vital part of anything I did. Moving up to the riverbank and trying to shift dug-in troops with a recon force’s firepower was not going to work!

K, my novice opponent, would therefore play the Poles. His force consisted of two platoons of line infantry, each with two large, 12-man squads of infantry, a light mortar team and an anti-tank rifle team; and a support platoon taken from the battalion’s HMG company and consisting of three taczanka MMG-carts and two 81mm mortar teams. The Poles also had access to an FOO and unlimited fire support from a couple of 75mm guns.

I let K choose where to place his troops, limiting my comments to mentioning the basics of mutual support, fields of fire, command distances etc.

The Game Begins

As above, I knew I had to force a passage across the river to have any chance of success.

Trying to immediately get across the railway bridge looked a bit suicidal, so I determined to attack down my left flank, crossing the water via the road bridge. That I tasked to 1st Platoon and the armoured cars, supported by the MG company who would occupy the factory. 2nd Platoon would threaten the bridge, making sure the Poles had to focus their attention there; with 3rd Platoon covering the bridge and effectively in reserve in the treeline on my right flank.

The action really started on my left flank, where the armoured cars and 1st Platoon got across the bridge and went after the Polish mortars at the back of the table behind the farmhouse. How did I know they were there? Well they kept dropping shells on the aforementioned armoured cars and 1st Platoon, K having quickly got the hang of things on the mortaring front!

It’s quite hard to see, but top left in the photo above (just behind the dome of the church) is where the infantry are pinned down by mortar fire. The armoured cars, meanwhile, have bumped into a squad of infantry in the farmhouse, and can’t get past them until they’ve been dealt with.

My machine gun platoon had by now got into the factory, and was laying down heavy but very ineffectual fire on the Polish troops guarding the bridge. The fact that the Poles were in trenches made them very hard to kill.

A hail of hand grenades and masonry forced the crew of the leading armoured car to bail out and run for it, but the 20mm cannon in the second punished the Poles in return. Unfortunately, K then revealed that he had two of his taczanka teams and an anti-tank rifle in the graveyard and, at this range, they soon caused a second armoured car crew, including the platoon commander, to bail as well. It’s a feature of this period of the war that most armoured vehicles are lost through bail-out rather than explosion!

I badly needed the kradschutzen to arrive and, finally, two squads of them got out from under the mortar fire and rushed forward to help the two remaining armoured cars out. One squad clambered through the windows into the church, the other made their way round the back of the church and climbed over the wall into the graveyard. Nothing like a bit of crossfire to ruin someone’s day!

The taczankas in the graveyard were soon running for it, and I also manged to effectively suppress the infantry squad in the farmhouse. This was good news, as Polish artillery had started to land on 2nd Platoon, by the bridge, with rather nasty effect. Unless I did something quickly, I was going to lose the battle by simple attrition.

Key to success was shifting the Polish platoon by the bridge, and to do that I needed to get some close range firepower onto them preferably from a direction that negated the cover they had from their trenches. I therefore moved my infantry into the graveyard and my one remaining armoured car forward so that it was hiding behind the corner of the cemetery.

K could see what was coming, so moved his reserve infantry forward to try and shift my men from the graveyard. This did not go well for him, as I won the race to the wall, and hammered his men advancing across open ground.

I then suffered a momentary distraction as the Polish company commander charged his horse into the graveyard in another attempt to turf me out, but he was sent flying - but not killed - for no loss to my troops. Forgive the “French” by the way: when I first got them, I made the mistake of labeling my poker chips with nationalities instead of just using the different colours to differentiate them: doh!

As the schwerepunkt was now obviously the Polish trenches by the bridge, it was time to get rid of the infantry squad preventing my men from defusing the explosives that threatened to render it into matchsticks. I therefore sent 2nd Platoon across the bridge, incidentally getting them out from under the Polish artillery fire, in order to get stuck in and soften the Poles up a bit.

This proved to be a little premature, as they took some nasty casualties from the Polish infantry in front of them. At the same time, the Poles responded to my capture of the graveyard by getting the final infantry squad into a position where they could gun down my men lining its walls. Learn quickly does K!

This turned out to be a devastatingly effective move, either killing or forcing all my infantry to flee.

To add insult to injury, the last Polish taczanka extricated itself from the farmhouse and, under the aegis of the Company Commander, started heading towards a position from which it would be able to turn my last armoured car into a colander!

Why won’t these Poles just give up!!!!

Fortunately it was by now too late for them to have an effect on the outcome of the battle.

My last armoured car had arrived at the edge of the trench and used its 20mm cannon to muller (pun intended) the Polish infantry therein.

At the same time, 3rd Platoon thundered over the bridge (largely over the bodies of 2nd Platoon!) and prepared to charge the now pinned Poles.

This they duly did and, with no Polish troops now within 4” of the bridge, the charges could be defused and the day was mine.

Aftermath

Well that was an exciting game and certainly no walkover.

Although I had at this point technically won the battle, you will easily see that I still had not properly secured the bridge and/or the battlefield in general.

A Polish counter-attack was imminent, and the fact that I had had to fully expose my troops in order to shift the Poles by the bridge meant that I was now very vulnerable. Okay, so the Poles didn’t now have anything with which to blow up the bridge, but soon there wouldn’t be many of me left to point that out to them, as the following mini-montage shows:

A narrow, technical victory…and K is eager to get his revenge next game! My new graveyard looked good as well: very pleased it turned out to be the focal point of most of the encounter.

Robert Avery

April 16, 2020 April 16, 2020/ Robert Avery

I ran my second IABSM game of the pandemic with players separated by around 500 miles.

This game is from Chris Stoesen's Campaign for Greece ‘41 book and based on his Glider Assault scenario (#13). It revolves around an Aussie attempt to keep a road open through Fallschirmjaeger infested territory.

From the book: “The Australian 2/6th came under assault from glider borne troops. It was the job of the 2/6th to keep the roads open for the retreating Dominion troops. The gliders landed close enough to the Australians that they watched them land. The landing was so rough, they at first believed that they had crashed until the Fallschirmjagers began to exit their gliders. While the forces are what were reported from the Australian and New Zealand sources, the map is entirely fictional drawn from the references that were in the sources.”

The Aussie player had two platoons while the FJ player only had five sections. I was only using a 4 x 4 space for this small game. There was a road running diagonally across from the NE to SW mostly through the higher ground. Five walled farms were connected to this road.

The German player (Martin)’s briefing:

Your Company has been tasked with a glider assault on the Bridge. Due to strong winds you have landed off course and your command’s gliders have been separated. Your command team is together. Gather what men you have and drive towards the bridge. While landing you observed several parachutes dropping near you. You will use whatever troops you find nearby.

He had two sections of FJ paratroops with one MMG team and a Level II Big Man. The glider troops had two sections of FJ glider troops; an HQ section with two 50mm mortars and two ATRs; and three Big Men, Levels IV, III and II.

William's Aussie briefing:

You are the commander of B Company of the 2/6th Australian Battalion. The road must remain open. High command has placed you here to prevent the Germans from completing a vertical envelopment of our retreat. If you can only keep the road open, your unit will be pulled out and you will be headed to Crete to rest and regroup.

He had two 4-section platoons, only one of which had the 2" mortar. A Level III Company CO commanded, and the platoon leaders were Level II and III.

The Game

I sent some pics of the board to the two players, Martin (in Florida) and William (a mere 13 miles from my table), along with briefings and units. They sent back some clear instructions on how they wanted to deploy and what they wanted their Blinds to attempt. The directions were sufficiently idiot proofed so that even I managed to send the Blinds out in the correct order.

Southern half of the table

This pic shows the Aussie blinds moving from the southern edge of the board.

Northern half of the table

DFS 230 glider

I painted up a couple of these for the table. Just wanted to add some character.

Meeting of the blinds

This is the eastern side of the table. German dummy blind in the bottom orchard. A section of glider men under the blind at the crossroads and the Aussie 2nd Platoon to the left.

Aussie blinds get to the hill

The Australian 1st platoon has moved up on to the wooded hill and the 2nd platoon is in the farm at the bottom on overwatch.

Paras spotted

First unit spotted was the German paras along the road. The glider troops are back at the farm to the left.

Aussies up on the hill open fire

Glider troops return the fire from the slope and farm.

Aussies in the trees

Actually on the ground under them but since the players aren't at the table I tried to make it a bit more obvious what and where things are. I took a load of piccies for the remote players.

2nd Platoon at the wall

Germans in the rocky gulley

They were getting fired at from the hill and long range from the 2nd platoon at the farm. Smoke from the 2" on the farm.

East half of the table

This was where all the action occurred.

The German blinds in orchard at the bottom and in the gulley are dummies. The MMG team is back behind the road on a ridge.

Para MMG opens up

One of the first Aussie casualties was their platoon CO.

Less shooting from the hill

Besides losing their platoon CO one of the Aussie sections was forced to retire in the woods.

FJ troops stuck on the slope

High tide for the FJ

Glider troops shift to fire

Smoke from the 2" caused 1 of the glider sections to move back to shoot at the Aussies in the woods.

Para section ldr directing the fire of the MMG

The Glider ldr and the HQ section are in the villa

FJ troops run back to the farm

View from gulley to SE farm

Aussie 1st platoon

They lost their pla CO, but William had sent the company CO with this group.

First Stuka strike

The German Air Support card came up quite frequently. The initial bomb run caused 2 casualties on one of the 2nd pla sections.

Glider troops under fire in the orchard

The Germans definitely had an advantage in automatic weapons. But they were outnumbered 8 sections to 5.

MMG team gets smoked

Farms on the east edge

The German dummy blind was spotted. It appears that the orchard might be empty.

Aussies make a dash for it

2 sections move out

MMG firing at the running Aussies

Both sides getting worn down

Only 2 Aussie sections left up on the hill. Germans consolidating in the villa.

Overview of the German positions

Gratuitous glider picture

I painted up two of them so had to put them on the table.

More smoke on the MMG

It was the last round of smoke available to the Aussies.

Back at the farm

Hazy view

Nice buildings from Total Battle Miniatures

Getting quiet

1st platoon spent

When the Company CO was hit they were down to just a few men and 1 AP in 1 section.

Fire breaks out

Random event had a fire break out in the trees. Just another reason to pull back.

Survivors consolidating

The 2" put a couple of HE rounds out towards the MMG team but otherwise that was it for 1st platoon

Para swing out to their left

2nd platoon moving into the east farm and orchard

Germans getting ready to meet new threat from their left

All of 2 platoon moving up

FJ taking cover in the rocks

3rd Stuka strike

It misses the 2nd platoon completely. The second strike also caused no casualties on this group.

Moving up through the orchard

Placed on the trees so players can see them in the pics

And up to the wall

More targets for the FJ

FJ view down the slope

Hits on the Aussies

The advantage is with the Paras and all their auto weapons

Trading shots

Glider troops join the paras on the slope

nother Aussie section bottles

And disaster!

A deadly friendly fire incident. I allow for misidentification with air support. It takes snake eyes for it, but on the rare occasions in a game when it happens it is always catastrophic. No exception here. The FJ lost a section ldr and 5 more men. Fortunately the overall FJ ldr was unhurt in the villa next to the blast.

And now the FJ is pretty well spent

The MMG team survivors cover the remaining 6 men from 3 sections as they head back to the villa to consolidate.

End of the game

The road can still be interdicted from this villa position, so the Aussies will have to root these FJ survivors out if they want this route to stay open.

It was a bloody game with the FJ losing a total of 32 out of 49 men, including 3 BM. The Aussies lost 9 in their 2nd platoon but 24 in the 1st platoon along with its ldr and the Company CO. 35 total casualties.

This was a much more manageable game than the previous one. 2 players, 4 maneuver units and a 4 X 4 table. A nice diversion and a way to connect during our social distancing period.

Mark Luther

April 08, 2020 April 08, 2020/ Robert Avery

For the last two days I have been playing a solo game of IABSM set in Stalingrad. The 6th Army are attempting to batter their way to the Volga but the Soviet defence line is proving tenacious. This may go on for a few days and I am filming it for an AAR, to be posted soon!

After three days, and despite a hearty defence by the Soviets, the Germans were able to break through the stop lines and pushed on to the Volga! A German victory.

Alex Sotheran

April 03, 2020 April 03, 2020/ Robert Avery

I ran this I Ain't Been Shot Mum game with the idea that several friends could have some involvement in a game during the Covid-19 pandemic. Loads of pics because I was texting the game out to six people.

I sent pregame info out to two groups of three. Team Komrade Kovid as the Russians and Team von Wujan for the Fallschirmjaegers. I sent the unit rosters out to the two teams and they decided who would 'run' what. German defenders on Team von Wujan could place wire and MG bunkers and decide where they wanted units based on the pics I texted. Russian attackers on Team Kovid divvied up their units and decided how they would enter the board.

At this point it would become more dependent on what I did since I was the card puller and dice roller. Piccies would be texted out, sometimes to specific teams and sometimes to all players informing them of developments and asking how they wanted to react. I then had to interpret that and combined with the normal friction of an IABSM game, their wishes would be less than desirable. Overall the idea was to connect with friends and have a diversion during these days of social distancing. It ain't perfect, but was something.

This scenario was to depict one of the numerous Russian attacks on the III/Rgt 3 in November 41 on their lines on the Neva River outside Leningrad.

Overhead View of the Table

Russian lines are just offboard to the right (north). FJ trenches are across the back slope of ridges through the right center.

Center of the FJ trenches

View from above the Russia entry edge. Dark areas are gullies Generally denser terrain with trees and scrub along these depressions. Russians tended to launch their attacks from them.

East edge of the front line

Large trench complex on the top of this hill was the anchor for the right edge of the FJ.

View from the back left of the FJ lines

They would put a 20mm AA gun back on this slope and had 2 MMG bunkers covering the rear of their front trenches. A pioneer section was also back here. The 3 German players worked out where they would put their unit barbed wire and MG bunkers pre game. I placed the main entrenchments before and sent them pics.

View from NW corner of the table

Russians could be coming in from these 2 gullies (darker areas) on this part of the table.

View from right rear of the FJ lines

This trench also had a 20mm AA gun position and was where the reserve section, the Company CO and a Pioneer section was located at the start.

The front lines

I used poker chips to help the remote players see the relative frontline. it also gives a hint of the topography. The FJ was at the back slope because the other bank of the Neva allowed the Russians to have a great view of the front of the slope on the Nev

Pregame Stonks

The FJ had a company across the front. 3 platoons of 3 sections. Each section had 2 lmgs and smg so they had a lot of firepower. They elected to split 2 sections on their center and right platoons into panzerknackers. Their was 1 reserve section in their right rear. They also had 4 MMGs of which they put 3 into bunkers. 4 6-men sections of Pioneers were also in reserve split up in the 2 rear entrenchments.

The Russian got 3 pregame stonks. They sent me pics of where they wanted them-which are shown here as the multi-crater pieces. Lots of shock (shown by the chits) but very few casualties resulted.

I placed the FJ front line minis on the table to make life easier. At this range (the 2 frontlines were extremely close to begin with anyways), they started shooting as soon as a target was visible.

Its almost impossible to tell what a unit is at any rate. 6mm winter troops all look alike at more than 6 inches.

Russian attacks begins

Under blinds (I use the unit cards as blinds. This makes it hard to forget to put them in the deck).

The Russians had a mixed bag of troops. They had 1 company of poor troops of 3 3-section platoons. These are the ones in this pic. They also had 2 MMG teams (also in this force). 2 Flamethrower teams (Split between this company and the right hand one). They had a large company of 'good' troops of 4 platoons of 3 sections. And 3 T-34

The Team Kovid players decided who would have what support and how they would nominally command the companies. And of course where they would enter.

Unfortunately the tanks got lost and failed to show up where they were suppose to and came in a later (pregame referee fuckery).

Russian right hand attack

This was the large company of 'good' troops. The blind to the right is a dummy. These units had miserable moves to begin the game. They were waiting for the missing tanks I guess.

Heading for the hole in the wire

The FJ relied on their tremendous firepower to stop this charge. The platoon CO in the lead group was a casualty. And the whole platoon received a suppress result too.

Lead Russian platoon on the right

There was a mmg in this entrenchment along with the section. If this Russian company had gotten better initial movement dice they might have overwhelmed this section of trench even then.

Going around the wire

But this puts them into the path of a MG bunker and fire from their right

Right side FJ trenches

The MG bunker is at the top of the pic. The stonks covered the bunker but they had no hits.

Running back down the slope

Too many auto weapons. The FJ section in the trench to the left of the mg bunker was still suffering from 6 shock so didn't contribute a lot of fire.

Lots of casualties on this hill

All 3 Russian platoons from this company tried to attack the trenchwork and fell back. The FJ did lose a platoon leader here so it wasn't completely a one-sided fight.

Stalled in front of the wire

This platoon was on its own for a couple of phases with no Russian blind card coming up. Where are the tanks?!?

Defenders on their right

This trench started with 2 sections and a panzerknacker team They lost their platoon leader so the heavily hit section was unable to take off shock.

Late arrival

The 3 T34s finally appear on the second turn of the Russian blind card-which was about 4 phases in to the game. These are the 2D6wargaming models of the T34 Ekranami. Very nice models.

They came in between the 2 companies. I had a separate card in the deck for each tank.

Attack going in on the FJ left

The first assault fails.

Reserve FJ section rushing up on their right

Company CO with them.

20mm taking shots at the T34

Hitting at 24 inches plus wasn't hard but strike of 4 vs 6 armor makes it tough to damage them. I rerolled any 1s on the robustness because of the extra armour on the Ekranami version.

Lots of Russians coming through the wire here

3 platoons worth of Russians can do some damage.

Here they come

The company CO and the flamethrower team are under the blinds

One section going long

Trying to thread the needle between MG bunkers. It didn't quite get there.

T34s veering left

2 of the tanks go off to their left and target the FJ in the trenches. I asked the remote Russian players which way to move the tanks. IABSM has a lot of friction built in, but trying to control troops through texts and my crappy pics is ridiculous.

Overview of the west side of the action

This T34 is dueling with the 20mmAA. You can see how the wire was not at all continuous. There had been some earlier attacks and lots of barrages to put breaks across the line.

First FJ trench captured

The FJ section was overwhelmed in a close combat. Plenty of casualties on both sides including a Russian platoon Big Man.

Russian losers of close combat fell back

Their platoon leader was a casualty too.

Caught in the open

And still a target from MG bunker at upper left.

Random event fire breaks out

Possibly caused by the pregame stonk. FJ players asked for mortar support. Their phonelines were cut by the artillery so no support immediately. I rolled to see if the break was found. It was, but it was in the woods that were merrily burning

Reserves arrive

And just in time. The company CO can start to take some shock off and the extra section will add their firepower too.

Tanks shelling trench in the center

And not too effectively either

Flamethower!

And that takes care of that section of paras. The newly arrived company CO escapes the blast.

The Russian company commander had rallied a section worth of leaderless men and moved up with the flamethrower team.

Meanwhile the 2 Russian MMG were trading fire with the MG bunker and FJ trenches to its left.

Flame on

Tanks shooting at MG bunker now

It was enough to cause the MG bunker to miss the Russians at the wire

Tanks bumbling about

But their shooting at the MG bunker allowed the flamethrower group to hang in there longer.

AA under fire

And the other T34 tries some HE on the 20mm. It causes 3 casualties.

Second squirt

The flamethrower gets another blast off. More dead paras and more shock. Too bad there are no units left with activation. Poor troops have 0 dice with 4 men left in the section. The loss of platoon leaders really kept this company from following up their initial advance.

Panzerknacker moving in

Tanks were focusing on the MG bunker

Overview of Russian tanks

The 20mm has caused a temp immobilization hit and a shock on the left vehicle. The other 2 getting ready to move off to the right. Their is a panzerknacker team behind the trench trying to catch a tank but it keeps moving away from them.

Too hot

Slow movement from the T34s (again)

Putting a dice of MG fire on the MG bunker as they move across the front. There is a FJ big man racing over to the still shocked out (from the pregame stonks) panzerknacker team in front of the tanks

Another close assault

This time on the far left FJ position. The para hold but are pinned and have only 2 men and a platoon CO left. The blinds are the pioneers that moved up to relieve them.

Table overview

All the action is on the ends of the table. This was right before the attackers at the wire on the left were forced back, ending the Russian pressure on the FJ right.

Pioneers ready for Russians

Outnumbered 2 to 1, but they have a Lvl III leader, they hold hard cover and get extra dice for close combat.

Tank overrun

The still pinned panzerknacker team escapes any damage but causes none also.

Panzerknacker attack

After following the T34s across their front a panzerknacker team finally catches a T34 from the rear and does it in. 4 strikes to 1 'save'.

The Pioneers getting flamed

The other Russian flamethrower team comes in on the flank and torches the defending Pioneers. They beat off one close assault but this is way too much for them to hold on

Pioneers attack another T34

The right side group of Pioneers had moved up through the pines and when this T34 bogged they attacked. And failed to cause any damage. This would prove to be a tough tank.

T34 returns fire

Crew is fighting back from their stuck tank

Meanwhile on the other flank

This T34 is going after the troublesome 20mm AA gun.

Another attempt to crack the bogged T34

From the previously successful panzerknacker team. It too, fails.

Russians driven back from captured trench

2 MG bunkers combine their fire on the Russians in trench and force them to vacate.

Pioneeers try again

And fail again to take out the bogged T34

Last shot from the AA

It bounces off again. Time to run!

And another attack from the panzerknackers

This time the team that was pinned and overrun tries after finally getting shock removed. It is as successful as the 3 previous attempts!

One 20mm crushed

If you can't shoot them, run the facists over.

And back to their friendly lines...

Well, that was interesting.

It was a bloody game all right. The Russians did get into the Para trenches on one flank. But too many auto weapons would prevent them from advancing further there. The attack on the other flanked also stalled out but did not capture any ground.

Russian left hand company had 40 infantry casualties, Company Co and 2 platoon Co killed. 6 MMG crew casualties and the flamethrower team wiped out for a total of 54 casualties. The right side company had 68 casualties plus 3 platoon COs hit 1 of the 3 T34 returned to the lines.

The FJ had 14 casualties including a Platoon Co casualties on their left. The center plt had 3 casualties. Their right side plt also had 13 casualties plus their Plt CO 1 MMG team lost 3 A 20mm was crushed and lost 3 crew. The Pioneers lost 11 on the German left.

This was certainly a nice distraction from our social distancing schedule. We played it over 2 days with me getting the info out ahead of time.

Mark Luther

March 27, 2020 March 27, 2020/ Robert Avery

I was still in the mood for a Normandy game and wanted something with Churchills and ruins. So I set this up at my place based on Operation Express (July 22, 1944).

View from the North-East

The British attack was to come in from the Northeast along the road from Louvigny and capture Maltot from the newly arrived 272 ID.

View from the North

The defending Germans (272 Inf Div) were focused more towards the North-where previous attacks had come from.

I told the German players, Martin and Stephen to expect the Brits (Rick and myself) to come in from that angle.

Road from Louvigny

The Brits came in from this angle and we were to deploy to the right (north) with our units.

We had A coy of the 5th Wilts and support from B Sqdn / 9th RTR. The 4th Wilts and A Sqdn would be to the left of the road moving along the Orne valley.

View from the Southwest corner

The defenders had 2) Coy of grenadiers with 3 sections each. Each section had least 1 Pzfst to begin with. In support there was 2 MMGs 3 PaK40s and 3 snipers. Armor from the 102nd SS Hvy Pz Rgt (2 Tigers) and 2 StuG IVs from 10th SS would arrive if needed. Eventually.

German defenders plan their dispositions

They placed their units to face to the North (right) with Stephen having the closest half and Martin the west half. It was assumed that all units were dug in.

Lot of rubble

Maltot had been reduced to rubble since the July 10 battle. Great defensive terrain and many opportunity for vehicles to bog.

The main road through town

Walled orchard to north of village

On the slope and blocking line of sight

Overhead of north corner

Smoke from pregame stonk

We concentrated on the eastern side of the table. It took out a Pak unknown to the Brits. Even though I (scenario designer) knew that the Germans could not deploy that far to the northeast, I put a stonk out on our right flank.

Center of the German defense

Churchills moving to north of main street

Wilts running to take advantage of the stonks

Wilts advance

We had a standard 3 platoon Coy and an FO for some medium mortars

Churchills of B Sqd

Total of 9 tanks in 3 troops. 2 were Mk VIIs and 1 CS tank the rest were Mk VIs. GHQ models with extra gear and tracks. We had 1 level 1 ace.

Reaching the first hedge

The rest of the company is to their right rear

Center platoon reaches the first hedge

A troop and HQ troop

We should've had a least 1 infantry platoon further left.

Infantry stalled along the road

Not a lot of fire coming from their left, just being sticky.

Pak 40

It had a view down main street and could see some armor through the destroyed village

Lead Churchill takes a 'faust hit

But minor damage.

Picking their way through the craters

First section of Wilts gets to the road

Fire from left flank

The Pak in the area was KO'ed by the stonk, and Stephen was having bad luck with his ‘fausts.

Still smoking

The multi crater markers are where the stonks were centered.

Road from Eterville

Not the main road but a smaller indirect one. It was the 1st Brit objective.

Overhead view of Brit entry area

Another gratititous rubble pic

Overall advance was slow

But so many places to take fire from.

Stephen fires at flank of Churchills

Fire from the left

The infantry was staying too far from the left flank to provide good protection. Fortunately Stephen couldn't hit the broad side of a Churchill.

Churchills moving slowly too

Just another picture of the left flank

Wilts taking fire from MMGs

PaK in the rubble

First objective reached

Wilts taking lots of auto fire from across the table

Pinned at the hedge

Having trouble crossing the road

Not the speedy advance I wanted. The other Churchill troops are slow to arrive also.

Churchills taking fire from their left again

Still stalled along road

Churchill took a PaK hit from across the table

High tank density here

Little German buggers won't show themselves

Germans pulling back

Stephen's 2 platoon on his right was taking the bulk of hits from the Churchills and Wilts

HQ troop moving into center

Platoon of Wilts across the road on the right along a hedge at the top of the pic.

Time to move a troop forward

HQ troop in position to overwatch now.

Dug in MMG spotted

And under fire from Wilts and Churchills.

More tank hits

Stephen finally hits a Churchill with a ‘faust. Stephen's HQ section at the bottom left. But the advancing troop is also coming under fire from PaKs.

Right hand troop finally moving up

They swung around the smaller orchard and came down the road. This troop was cursed in their movement it seemed, with their card rarely coming up.

Overlooking the battle

Slow moving troop finally in position but too late to help the advancing left hand troop.

Exchange between dug in Pak, MMG and Wilts

This was a tough position to take out -- it was especially reinforced through a Random Event card. Wilts silenced the MMG but the Pak40 was still shooting at advancing Churchills. HQ troop had reserved dice.

Tigers arrive

The 2 heavy tanks had 1 level 2 tank ace. It immediately found some juicy Churchill targets.

A nasty looking corner

Really formidable AT assets here.

Northern side

This plt of Wilts moved around the orchard and took fire from Martin's recently relocated troops.

Stug IVs

From the 10th SS. they have to pick their way through the rubble at the southern edge of Maltot.

Encounter between Wilts and Martins grenadiers

Martin swung his infantry across to the right to head off the northern infantry advance. Uneven terrain makes it hard to line up walls around the orchard. These are high walls so take a full phase to get up and over. Most of the blinds are dummies.

Time to call the game though. Slow movement on the part of the Brits allowed the German armour to get positioned and make it hard to maneuver what was left of the Churchills. Brits still have the mortars and vast majority of their infantry. None of Martin's grenadiers were hit.

German losses were 12 of Stephen's 54 grenadiers. 2 MMG teams eliminated. 1 Pak hit by the stonk. All 3 snipers out of action.

Wilts had 12 of 72 troopers casualties. 4 of 9 Churchills KO'ed. Time for the second wave to take over and some mortars to fall on the rubble.

Mark Luther

March 25, 2020 March 25, 2020/ Robert Avery

A game of IABSM from the Blenneville or Bust! scenario pack.

Introduction

Although US reconnaissance units failed to locate the bridge over the river Moire, other American troops managed to beat off a German counter-attack near Belle Maison, allowing American engineers to throw their own bridge across the Moire. This allowed the Americans to assault Pierrecourt from the flank but, despite this advantage, the attack failed. The Germans then successfully counter-attacked through Belle Maison and, as the campaign reaches its climax, threaten the rear of the Allied armies at Diot.

And so here it was, the final game in the campaign. The Germans were on a roll and seeking the maximum victory they could achieve.

Diot was an interesting table setup. A huge town square in the centre of the table surrounded by houses and shops on every side. Running the length of the table and close to the British edge ran a large and unfordable river, which could be crossed only by one of the two bridges still intact.

As we started the game everything looked eerily quiet. In this final game I once again play the Germans this time with the assistance of Ralph. The opposition, the British Alban Regiment along with it supports, were played by John and Barry. Martyn once again took the role of the umpire.

The Game Begins

Ralph and I decided that we would avoid town centre at all costs and aim for the two bridges using a pincer attack. on our centre-right we deployed a series of blinds, primarily to act as observers and to draw enemy units out of their cover in order that we could seek their positions successfully.

We used four blinds initially, two of them were false and two were real units; the reconnaissance platoon of three armoured cars including a very useful Puma and one of the three infantry platoons that we had at our disposal. The latter made its way along the leaside edge of a Boccage hedgeline which gave cover from the buildings of the town square.

With so few cards in the game deck the initial returns came thick and fast. The British had deployed everything on hidden blinds and so we had to commence a lengthy series of spotting activities during this early part of the game. We had mixed fortunes in that regard, but slowly and surely we scanned the majority of the hedgelines in front of us successfully. Nothing was lurking about.

However it was not too long before the British artillery bombardment started with ranging rounds pitching around our blinds in the centre to right-hand sector of our deployment area. The British ranged in pretty quickly and soon the blinds were taking casualties.

The British now started to use their forward units currently hidden under blinds to observe our blinds, rapidly discovering the infantry and one false blind. Taking a slow reconnaissance start to the game was one thing, but being under a targeted barrage was another and we decided to press on as fast as we could.

The reconnaissance platoon still under its blind made rapid advancement through the gap in the hedgerow and out to observe the enemy's left flank paid particular attention to a house and enclosure close to the bridge in that sector. This time our luck was out and we couldn't see very much at all, only successfully scanning one section of hedgerow where we found nothing.

The armoured cars made great use of a small copse to limit the lines of sight it was exposed to, whilst still being able to undertake observation missions itself. The infantry platoon took a different tack and split up into its various sections in order to avoid the worst of the bombardment which was now 'targeted in' and starting to cause casualties in some numbers.

Deploying into individual sections provided the Germans with the opportunity of undertaking even more observations and soon much of the board area between the German right flank and the centre of the table was observed to be clear.

The big question was where were the British and most importantly how many of them were there?

The British Reveal Themselves

The first question was soon answered as the armoured cars were spotted and the Churchill opened fire from within the enclosure near the bridge. Hits were received and the armoured car was severely damaged but not out of the game yet. Perhaps that was fortunate for the Germans who were able then to identify the threat and make considerations for the reserves to be brought on the table. In this scenario the Germans had recovered their heavy tank platoon and Ralph and I agreed that the two Tigers should be brought onto the table, in order to combat the threat posed by the Churchill next to the bridge.

That also set the scene for where we would deploy our Kampfgroup commander with his two Panthers and a second tank platoon of three Panthers. These we determined should make a sweeping thrust up the left flank, circumventing the village and round to the higher bridge where they could make a dash for it whilst providing their own covering fire. However before they were deployed a second infantry platoon undertook reconnaissance under blinds along that left flank, but was unable to determine if there were any enemy there or not.

Despite undertaking several observation attempts nothing could be seen (the troops continue to fail to spot as a result of extremely poor dice rolling). Fortune favoured them and they were able to take up positions within gardens and a house covering the road adjacent to where the left flank attack would take place and thereby enabling at least some covering fire to be laid, should it be required when the panther attack went in.

The British continued to make repeated observation attempts on the remaining German blinds with limited success. There were clearly troops within the village but we were unsure how many and where. They would have to be flushed out.

The Germans concluded that this would be objective for the second infantry platoon, whilst keeping a weather eye open on the panther assault. Reconnaissance usually brings dividends and in this case it flushed out British infantry units within the edge of the village. It also suggested the village was heavily defended and that our decision to avoided it been the correct one.

Over on the right flank a series of shots were exchanged between the reconnaissance armoured cars and the Churchill. The Puma being eventually destroyed and abandoned. Enter the Tiger platoon. With limited long-range fields of fire available to us we sought the best sweeps and made maximum use of the 88 mm guns;soon the Tigers were engaged. A glancing blow on the Churchill was enough to convince it to retire and it did so out of the enclosure and back along the roadway leading to the bridge, safe in the knowledge that we had now lost our line of sight and that in order to regain the advantage the Tigers would have to advance. Whilst very tempting, we felt that that was probably drawing it into a trap so elected to keep the area under surveillance with the pair of big cats.

On the left flank the Panthers deployed quite rapidly and the sight of five fast-moving and heavily armoured vehicles caused some dismay amongst British players. A discussion of table followed between myself and Ralph and we concluded that some more reconnaissance was the order of the day, particularly on the right flank where the reconnaissance team could now move out into safe territory with the Churchill gone. However, as usual, that identified a six pounder anti-tank gun sitting in a hedgerow adjacent to the bridge. Even for the Tigers that would be a difficult gig. But move out they did and immediately a torrent of fire opened upon them. Nine rounds of anti-tank fire came from what was not one Churchill but a full troop of three vehicles.

It was not the British players day and of the nine rounds only one hit was scored the remainder appearing to be useless against the heavily armoured beasts now prowling in the open terrain in a menacing manner and heading straight for the lower bridge. What followed was a game of cat and mouse, literally, with both sides conscious not to drive into obvious kill zones.

On the left the Panthers advanced towards another Boccage hedge but a successful draw of the armoured bonus move card allowed for one vehicle to breach the hedge row and create a gap for others to follow shortly.

Again favourable cards drawn allowed the Panthers to move into the next field, closing the distance to the bridge and the village. Almost inevitable came the howl of excitement from the British players when they interrupted our next card with fire from the second anti-tank gun next to the higher bridge. The round hit the flank of the nearest panther and wounded it severely. However whilst sustaining a loss of the next two actions, it was clearly not out of the game and this may have been the time at which the British could be said to have lost the game.

The Panthers reacted viciously with three breaking away from the area on a succession of bonus cards; motoring at full speed into the town square, while simultaneously, the second infantry platoon was engaged in a firefight with the British infantry in that area and therefore distracting them in their efforts to avert the armoured thrust.

The remaining panther took up a position to protect its colleague and continued to fire high explosive roundsinto the vacinity of the bridge, causing several casualties on the anti-tank crew. The temptation was too much and the fear too great and so the British players elected to blow the bridge and prevent the Panthers from achieving their objective.

Up it went with a massive explosion. The German effort was now focused on the lower bridge.

Fight for the Lower Bridge

The battle for the town ensued with casualties being exchanged on either side. The British wary of the counter-attack elected to move their bombardment into the vicinity of the panther attack. A risky business given the proximity of their infantry hiding in the town buildings around the square.

The Panthers went to work in retaliation. Round after round of high explosive slammed into the structures housing the British infantry and once again many were both set on fire and structurally damaged, forcing the infantry to evacuate to the next bolthole. A separate British platoon brought it's PIAT to the fore and launched a couple of rounds into a panther tank racing through the square. Miss! Hit and deflected!

The Germans had another stroke of luck. The Panthers would not be there long enough to endure more fire from that quarter.

Back on the right flank Ralph was losing casualties from his infantry platoon and so was forced to bring on the third motorised infantry platoon in their half tracks. Just in the nick of time too. Their additional firepower was brought to bear on the anti-tank gun in the bridge initially, but when it pulled back further into cover of the enclosure these new reserves raced off behind the Tigers to give close support.

The pack had had the scent and they were after that bridge. Would the cards fall right for the Germans?

On the left flank the remaining anti-tank gun was silenced by further high explosive fire from the Panthers whilst those Panthers in the square took advantage of every bonus card and raced towards the lower bridge.

Anti-tank fire criss-cross the table. The lead panther took a hull down position on the bridge. The Churchill which had suffered a retire earlier in the game now opened fire again but to no effect. A difficult shot against a poor target, hull down resulted in more misses. The panther was not so kind. It destroyed the Churchill with his first shot and then did the same to a second emerging Churchill. A third Churchill was engaged by the rapidly advancing Tigers and it to was dispatched without loss.

The Germans now sensed victory and raced every available half track onto and over the bridge support in the Panthers successful sweeping manoeuvre.

They had raced up the left flank, survived a flank attack but were disappointed that they had not captured their target. They went on, somewhat rashly, racing through the centre of the village towards a second bridge where they were eventually successful in securing a crossing.

Campaign’s End

All in all another exceptionally well executed attack and one which saw the campaign end in a major German victory.

Of the five game scenario campaign, the Germans had lost one game but won four. An excellent month's worth of gaming had been enjoyed by all.

All agreed that they had enjoyed the experience and looked forward to another campaign; the Normandy or Tunisia or even the German invasion of Russia perhaps. However none of that would take place until after we had endured the storm of the coronavirus; so entering a period of wargaming drought..

We hope to bring you more when normal service resumes.

We hope you have enjoyed these narratives and after action reports on our first foray into an IABSM campaign.

Tim Whitworth

90676883_248895313174918_8399892846181613568_n (1).jpg

March 14, 2020 March 14, 2020/ Robert Avery

A cracking game yesterday with some new players too. Surrounded British Paras awaited armour support while holding a bridge😃

A mixed Kampfgruppe attacked with four platoons of infantry and some Panzer IVs, StuGs and two Char B Flammepanzers. Both sides called on artillery and mortars.

More below the pics.

Julian Whippy

All quiet...

The board, before a few tweaks

Probing Infantry try sneaking through the Railway station but get spotted.

On the opposite flank Infantry advance through a Vineyard with Panzer support.

Para sniper on the wrecked bridge.

Char B, earning its spurs, burns out the Paras before being knocked out by a PIAT.

Central thrust gets halted. Lead Panzer III breaks down on the ramp! Artillery pins the accompanying infantry.

XXXI Corps arrive with Shermans and KO a Panzer V with one shot. Game over!

March 10, 2020 March 10, 2020/ Robert Avery

Club last night and nothing to take except some dice and a measuring tape, Dan had agreed to umpire another I Ain't Been Shot Mum WWII game, this time it would be larger than the last game and hopefully some things we now better understood.

This time I had drawn the Germans and stood on the defensive with two platoons supported by some MMG's, a PaK 38 and a StuG III, Simon had one full company with a Sherman troop and a Carrier troop to attack with, I was told there was another company in reserve but luckily this did not appear. My forces were to be forced from the table, so I split them all along my defense line, like my War and Conquest games on Sunday I could not give in to my normal tabletop aggressiveness.

The British tanks sped down the right hand road and flanked my position, I should have given them a nasty surprise as my StuG III was supposed to turn up on their flank, but I had misheard my instructions from Dan and it was on the other side of the battlefield, duh.

As sighting rolls were made and troops turned up my MMG's began to take casualties and I lost two of them, I had not wanted to show my hand with my two platoons so they took the brunt of the enemy fire from both tanks and infantry. Dan was unsure of how Overwatch worked so it had been dropped which was bad news for me the defender as I had to sit and take some punishment before reacting. I got some satisfaction from brewing a Sherman with my panzerschreck team but they died soon after from return fire.

Simon then moved his Firefly until it could shoot at the StuG and PaK, I got quite a few hits on the Firefly but nothing they could not brush off, no one did very well in that duel. I had also hit the two remaining tanks with mortar fire, but again they mainly ignored it apart from closing hatches.

While this was going on the British had now shown their hand and were managing to put some heavy casualties down on my platoons, my own men always felt on the back foot but despite this Dan declared a British win although I had not really been moved from my opening positions. I have my lawyers mounting an appeal.

This time the game did flow better and it went along quite well, but Overwatch is required for defenders, I also think we were getting to grips with the whole command and control mechanics, I have no problem playing the game and would like to try out some proper scenarios but I would not add it to my repertoire as I have enough to get on with at the moment.

George Anderson

March 10, 2020 March 10, 2020/ Robert Avery

Although US reconnaissance units failed to locate the bridge over the river Moire, other American troops managed to beat off a German counter-attack near Belle Maison, allowing American engineers to throw their own bridge across the Moire. This allowed the Americans to assault Pierrecourt from the flank but, despite this advantage, the attack failed. Now the Germans counterattack from south of Belle Maison.

So off we set again with the fourth game in the Normandy campaign. Again I played the Germans this time aided by Steve with the Allies being played by John and Barry; Ralph was sadly delayed by an unfortunate incident with a pothole and so missed the game!

As the Germans had halted the American attack at Pierrecourt they were back on the counter offensive again; oh how I hate attacking with Germans. This time with a combined force of 30th Panther and 30th Panzer Grenadier regiments.

Luckily this involved a considerable number of Panthers with a quite strong reconnaissance armoured car platoon which included one Puma and two SdKfz 231 or 232s. Plenty of armoured force there then.

Also available were three infantry platoons, one of which was mounted in half tracks and a small infantry headquarters team with a single SdKfz 251/9.

However the Germans possessed no offboard artillery or air support and when combined with a lack of mortars this job was going to be a difficult one.

The Germans started their offensive with the two dismounted Panzer Grenadier platoons advancing along the sides of two parallel Boccage hedgerows leading up to the southern side of the town of Belle Maison in the hope of flushing out some early American elements in that portion of the battlefield.

That it certainly did and they were very soon under fire from a house in the second row of terraces; in fact a couple of Armoured Infantry sections supported by a pair of LMG teams, however little damage was done except for the occasional shock marker being received.

The building with the grey tiled roof contains a couple of Armoured Infantry sections with additional LMG teams in the front yard.

Being Americans, of course they were blessed with considerable offboard artillery and air support so very quickly their Forward Observation Officer was on the phone to call in support from their offboard Priests.

The Germans decided to bring on several of their dummy blinds and push them forward as observation teams quickly conducting a series of tests to scan the hedgerows and closest buildings in the town.

Very rapidly they sought to determine there was little if anything in their way and so felt safe to bring on their armoured support in the form of a couple of understrength Panther troops. In the absence of any off-road artillery these were quickly brought into play as mobile artillery platforms, each training their weapons on any observed allied infantry in the town. They caused reasonable damage but their main effect was the regularity with which they set light buildings and although the occupants were relatively unscathed they were quickly distracted from their defensive actions by having to take to their heels and evacuate the buildings.

This worked extremely well for the Germans who were able to learn to continue their advance and occupy the spaces vacated by the American forward troops.

One area of hedgerow that had not been scanned was on the German extreme right-wing where the armoured headquarter section comprising of a further two Panthers encountered three Sherman tanks, one of whom was sporting a 76 mm gun. However these were quickly addressed with through a succession of beneficial German cards being turned up and all three Shermans were dealt with. It was a surprise to see the Allied armour so far forward but it was not to be a unique case as on the extreme left hand flank the German recce section was soon spotted by another Sherman platoon and a short firefight ensued.

The German Puma armoured car took a bit of a pasting but survived and its colleagues quickly opened up their auto cannons in response to the attack. The nearest pair of Panther tanks joined in the fray and soon the Americans were under a relentless torrent of anti-tank fire; quickly losing this armoured wing also.

One of the command group Panthers had suffered damage during its engagement on the right flank and so the advance on that part of the battlefield became a little delayed as result of its engine damage; but more so because of the fear of having sighted an American bazooka team working in a small copse.

The Germans on the right flank had taken some losses on their accompanying infantry platoon and needed to get the remnants forward to support their tanks before they could safely advance.

That switched the emphasis of the German attack back onto the left flank; the centre almost being avoided as a result of the fire storm that hit the village in that sector. Most of the buildings in the first row of terraces were now in flames.

The armoured cars buzzed about trying to suppress infantry in the remaining buildings whilst for Panthers scoured for new targets. Throwing caution to the wind one Panther drove through the sector where the second Sherman platoon had been, through the gap in the Boccage hedgerow and straight into the crosshairs of an American anti-tank gun. The 3 inch gun was a powerful weapon indeed but the initial salvo shots failed to penetrate the big cat and it returned fire killing one of the crew.

It was now down to the sequence of cards being drawn following the intermediate tea break and sure enough the Panther had its card drawn out first. It raced forward up the hill towards the church intent on turning the corner of another edge and overrunning the gun. However its movement dice fell slightly short of the intended tormentors and it was left without any further actions awaiting its fate. Strangely, this came from another quarter as a second 3 inch anti-tank gun opened up with a further salvo and eventually the force of arms overcame the beast.

Luckily, the Big Man commander within escaped unharmed and his card turned up subsequently.

This saw him belt across the open fields and commandeer the other tank in his platoon.

The fight continued in this area with American infantry being pursued back towards the church, but time was starting to tell and the Americans were losing resources at an unparalleled rate.

Martyn, our umpire, called a halt and after some pondering he awarded another victory to the German forces.

It had been another heck of a mentally demanding game and left the players feeling they'd actually be in the hedgerows all day.

Tim Whitworth

March 06, 2020 March 06, 2020/ Robert Avery

Time to break out the I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum again with a scenario taken from the second September War scenario book: #60 Szack.

Szack was a small village in what was south-eastern Poland (it’s now just inside Ukraine) that was the site of a backwards-and-forwards series of actions between the Poles and the Soviets in very late September 1939. The scenario covers the first Soviet attack:

Soviet troops consisting of the 112th Infantry Regiment, some 13,000 soldiers supported by fifteen T-26 tanks and fifteen guns, arrived at the village of Szack on September 28th.

The Polish force near the village numbered 4,000 men of the Border Protection Corp, including General Wilhelm Orlik-Rückermann, and sixteen anti-tank guns.

Having taken the village, the Soviets then charged the Polish positions with infantry supported by the T-26 tanks. The Poles waited until the Soviets were right on top of them before opening fire with their anti-tank guns, destroying eight tanks.

Downtown Szack, also showing the two objective markers: possession of either would give the Soviets victory.

The Poles

The defending Poles began the game under hidden Blinds. Under Kapitan Nalewki they had two strong platoons of KOP (Border Protection) infantry numbering fifty men in all, supported by three MMGs and three 37mm anti-tank guns. They also had access to off-table artillery.

One infantry platoon and Kapitan Nalewki (and his all-important link to the off-table atillery) would start the game off-table, only able to join the action when the Polish Blinds card and a dice roll allowed.

AT Gun positioned in the ‘old village’ on the right flank

Dave, playing the Poles, deployed one MMG team and one AT gun on either flank, and one of each in the centre, which was also where he placed his infantry platoon.

The Soviets

The attacking Soviets, under John, had at their disposal a company of Red Army infantry consisting of three platoons, each of thirty men and a light mortar team. They were supported by a small MMG platoon of two weapons and a reduced company of tanks: six T-26 obr. 33 light tanks (although the tank commander had a more modern obr. 39 steed).

The Soviet plan was to launch a diversionary attack from the right flank, but send their main force in from the left flank. This made sense given what John could actually see: the centre of the Polish position was filled with a big church that looked like a good place to put loads of defending troops. In reality, the church was empty and provided a perfect piece of dead ground for a Soviet advance: but then Captain Hindsight always has 20:20 vision!

The Soviet diversionary attack: two tanks and a platoon of infantry.

The Game Begins

The game began with the Soviets beginning their double-envelopment attack.

The Polish anti-tank gun team, however, was on fire, and rapidly knocked out or immobilised three of the four Soviet tanks coming their way. The Polish machine-gunners, from their position within the shack that the AT Gun was hiding behind, fired on the Soviet infantry, knocking a few of the matrasovs down, but were hampered by the fact that the shape of the hut gave them a limited field of fire.

This proved especially hampering when the leading Soviet infantry platoon worked their way up the side of the village and then charged on in: eliminating the machine gun team entirely and narrowly missing the AT gun as well: they limbered up and escaped at the last minute!

Meanwhile, the diversionary attack force was creeping closer to the other side of the village.

The Soviets’ main focus, however, was the building in the centre of the Polish position, behind which sat both objective markers. The surviving T-26 tank and third Soviet infantry platoon headed towards it. Inside, the Polish defenders (two infantry sections, an MMG, and an AT Gun team rapidly reduced down to one man as the Soviets concentrated their fire there) prepared to hold their position no matter what.

You might have noticed that there have so far been no mention on the second Polish infantry platoon. That’s because up to now it had resolutely remained off table. Now, however, they appeared on the Polish base line and immediately headed towards the key building in the centre of the village.

Two things now happened that would effectively decide the course of the battle despite appearing relatively unimportant at the time. Firstly, a Soviet infantry squad rolled appallingly for movement, therefore failing to charge the one man still manning the Polish AT gun in the central building.

Secondly, the Polish Kapitan Nalewki appeared on the table and got just far enough forward to unpin and activate the MMG team in the key building. This fired and killed three members of the Soviet platoon heading for the building. Seems relatively unimportant, but read on…

The Climax

All the Soviets now needed to do was to take the central building before the Polish reserves could properly come into play. This might have allowed them the sudden-death win defined in the victory conditions as taking just one objective before a certain number of appearances of the Turn Card, although Dave (the Polish CinC) assured me (Umpire) that he had that covered with where his second platoon had already got to. Well, we were going to see about that!

As I was saying, all the Soviets needed to do was to take the central building, and this they now prepared to do with their two remaining platoons. John’s plan was to shoot with some of his sections and the last T-26, hopefully Pinning the opposition, then go in and take one section of the building at a time.

And then the Uraaaaaagh! Card appeared.

This gave the Soviets, doubtless inspired by political rhetoric, the chance to send both platoons charging forward towards the building in a desperate attempt to overwhelm the defenders all at once.

A huge melee broke out around the building, and this is where the significance of the last turn came into play.

When both sides had finished rolling their forty or so dice for combat (and each side rolled a disproportionate number of 5’s and 6’s) the Poles had won by the narrowest of margins, margins that would not have existed had they not managed to kill the half-handful of Soviets as they approached. As it was, the building was just about cleared of all its defenders, but the attacking Russians had also been hammered and, more importantly, bounced backwards by the equivalent of a hundred yards or so.

There was now effectively a giant hole in the middle of the battlefield, with the only troops available to fill it being the Polish reserve platoon: the Soviet diversionary platoon hadn’t yet made it past the Polish left flank defences.

Aftermath

The battle was effectively over. The Soviets could perhaps had rallied and had one more go, but the clock was ticking and more Polish reserves were about to arrive. The Russians had missed their chance.

A great game with a suitably climactic finish!

Robert Avery

March 02, 2020 March 02, 2020/ Robert Avery

Hosted by Vermont Historical Gamers Group. Walking in a Winter Wonderland from the 2005 Summer Special.

The calm before the storm.

Fields are muddy but there is still snow in the woods. Americans held the left while Germans entered from right. Great scenario.

Pre-game stonk.

Blast markers and fire ball by Bud's Blast Markers.

Hitlerjugend charge through the mud.

Near miss by American 81mm mortars.

Close combat drives back an American platoon.

More Panzer grenadiers rush the woods.

105mm battery on reinforcement card by Americans shatters a squad.

Long range fire by four MG 42s decimated any american troops that exited the woods.

Two M-10s arrive on a reinforcement card.

German LiG 75mm short guns set the farmhouse ablaze forcing the American FO and sniper to evacuate.

An American 57mm comes off the Blind and takes out a StuG..

One M-10 takes on the Panzerschreck crews while another faces off against the StuGs.

It took a turn or two for the American 81mm mortars to get going again after their FO had to redeploy but then they pinned the Panzerschreck teams

An M-10 brews up the Sturmhaubitze 42 in the center.

Still a German tactical victory as they only lost about 1/3rd of infantry, seized the road network and except for losing one StuG and one StuH42 still have all their 15+ halftracks intact.

A StuG brews up an M-10.

German infantry swarm the American right flank.

Love these LED glowing fires by Bud's blast markers.

Americans took out two of the three assault guns but lost over 50% of their infantry and decided to vacate.

Dan Albrecht

March 02, 2020 March 02, 2020/ Robert Avery

The British counter attack at Arras, May 1940, a 15mm IABSM game played at Bristol Independant Gamers 1st March 2020.

Phil Turner

February 23, 2020 February 23, 2020/ Robert Avery

While at York I had a quick chat with Michael Curtis at 1st Corps and he mentioned he was playing a lot of I Ain't Been Shot Mum (IABSM) by Too Fat Lardies. I thought it had disappeared due to the concentration on Chain of Command but seemingly not, it can still be found. I mentioned the rules while in conversation with club member Dan and he said he had played at one time and had 15mm forces and he would like to try it again, so we set a date.

Dan decided to umpire a game between Simon and myself. I was the British with two platoons and a couple of Shermans, while Simon had one German platoon with two HMGs in support with the tempting promise of more to come. Simon defended while I attacked.

IABSM uses Blinds, which may or may not be an actual unit as they cross the battlefield: once spotted troops turn up or the Blind is a dud and gets taken away. I sent one platoon and one tank out on my right while the other attacked from my left flank, the defenders were strung out quite thin. My left hand tank took some non penetrating hits from a couple of Panzerfausts but they did leave the crew shaken and Pinned and pretty useless for most of the turns.

First platoon just tried to shoot the outnumbered enemy to their front but it was taking quite a long time, too long. On the right I made some aggressive moves against a small nearby house but again never seemed to have enough orders to get a good head of steam up and close with the again outnumbered enemy.

Simon played quite aggressively but began losing men and at one point a whole section went. Although I did not lose any complete sections several were hurting quite badly. As the clock ticked down a Panzer IV turned up and loosed a shot at the Sherman on the right flank, some paint flecks spun into the air. at this late stage I don't think I got a shot back, I may be mistaken. Overall the game was decided as a draw.

There were several mechanisms which were almost identical to CoC while others were simply puzzling, we didn't spend as much time as we would in the rule book as, many moons ago, Dan had drawn up several yes/no flowcharts which helped. One game is not enough for me to really give an opinion, I also think quite a bit of work and knowledge is required to get the best out of it.

George Anderson

February 20, 2020 February 20, 2020/ Robert Avery

The defence of Pierrecourt was the third game in our Normandy 1944 campaign from the Two Fat Lardies campaign booklet Blenneville or Bust! Ralph and John again played the Allies whilst I played the Germans and Martin kindly umpired the whole thing.

In our first campaign game I had beaten off the American reconnaissance in force and put them on the back foot which resulted in the second game being a German counter-attack. However that failed in a bizarre game which used mainly Blinds and just a couple of units on the table. Lots of things learned in that game, however this resulted in scenario #3C being played. I found myself on the back foot yet again, but this time defending quite a considerable built-up area surrounded by a significant number of outlying farmsteads and isolated houses on the northern edge of the town of Pierrecourt.

I knew I was expecting an attack from the north-west but where exactly it would arrive I wasn't sure. The German defenders were limited to a deployment area to the south and to the east edges of the table, and mainly to the north of the town.

The Forces Involved

The German force comprised a significant number of support weapons, including five medium machine gun teams! These were placed strategically in an arc focusing inward towards the likely American arrival points. All were hidden within buildings and therefore started the game on hidden Blinds. The Germans weren't sure of the size of the American force but certainly it had been suggested that they had found a way over the river Ribeaux by building their own bridge. I could therefore expect to see armour in plentiful supply.

To counter this the Germans had a couple of PaK 40 anti-tank guns and couple of StuG III assault guns. These were also placed so as to create overlapping arcs of fire and kill zones. The Germans also had two full platoons of infantry which were placed within the confines of the town, but a couple of elements in fortified houses towards the western edge of the town, should the Americans choose to come that way. This was particularly beneficial as an American flank attack of armoured infantry did just that.

The table looking from the north. Lots of isolated farms other singular buildings pepperpot the landscape posing a potential threat at every corner for the Americans

The table from the south east. German MGs are in the blue roofed building to the left and in the 3-storey red roofed building to the right creating a tremendous kill zone in the centre near the lake.

The centre of the village from the South. German sections hiding in most of the buildings and creating a defence in depth.

The Game

As with most games we started with the pack including only the Tea Break and Blinds cards for both sides. The American attack quickly developed on the western edge of the table and soon they were adding cards to the stack on a fairly frequent basis. German confidence did not waver and they continued to watch as more Americans units arrived.

The Americans brought forward a couple of armoured infantry platoons with their support weapons into the bocage hedged enclosure on the western edge whereby they then set up shop proceeded to engage in a firefight with a machine gun holed up in protected building the western edge of the town, where their superior firepower began to show through.

The Germans had placed their Forward Observation Officer in one of the lofts of the houses on the northern edge of the town and he had his card activated fairly quickly to call in support from an offboard battery of 210 mm Nebelwerfers. However the Germans were unfortunate and made repeated low dice rolls, failing to bring in this much-needed support until towards the very end of the game. When it did arrive the accuracy was so erratic that the first range shots disappeared well over the western horizon and off the table.

In the meantime the Americans brought armour onto the table in the hedged enclosures on the south-western corner of the board and started to aggressively reconnoitre the isolated farmsteads in the southern part of the battlefield. That area the Germans had left particularly weakly defended as the numerous buildings in that area posed a significantly psychological threat, with their potential kill zones and overlapping fire fields. Indeed there are only two medium machine gun teams in that half of the battlefield and both remained on reserve dice until absolutely necessary. They only made their presence known late in the game.

As the Americans sweep across the front of the village they are exposed to machine-gun and anti-tank fire in a deadly kill zone.

Supporting American armoured infantry can only watch in vain as their armour is picked off by successful anti-tank fire from concealed German weapons.

On the north western edge of the board an American armoured infantry platoon dismounted and entered the town area rather cautiously. It was initially placed under a Blind, but quickly found itself uncovered due to the presence of another medium machine gun and a separate building housing a German infantry section. There ensued a couple of close combats. The medium machine gun coming off the worst of one, having to retreat into an adjacent property garden whilst the second American section was beaten off by the German infantry squad.

To add further discomfort the Americans were then at the mercy of an assault gun prowling in the western sector of the town. Direct high explosive rounds were fired, pinning the squad and leaving it vulnerable to further fire. Two of their colleagues 0.3 inch machine gun teams also suffered at the hands of the assault gun who continued to harass the remaining American elements on the edge of the town.

As American confidence grew one of their armoured platoons burst through the dense hedge row and made a dash for the centre of the table. As if by magic the German Blinds card appeared and exposed a PaK 40 anti-tank gun who immediately conducted a barrage of aimed and snapshots at the platoon, famously missing with all three. Once exposed the anti-tank gun was at the mercy of every American gun: very quickly it was eliminated.

Thinking the coast to be clear more American armour appeared in the centre/southern sector intent in making a sweeping left flank manoeuvre. Almost immediately a second anti-tank gun was activated which quickly saw the end of the two leading Sherman tanks, both of went up in flames after receiving the first hit. The American attack was slowing down.

An American armoured platoon advances in the northern sector of the battlefield.

The second German anti-tank gun and its own big man prepare to engage the advancing Americans.

With their left flank progressing slowly the Americans resorted to using their considerable mortar power to lay down a smoke barrage and prevent the Germans (if there were any) from assaulting them in the flank.

Offboard American artillery was a little more successful than the Germans, but most of their efforts were aimed at the buildings in the centre of the table and away from German troops who were hiding mainly in the town. The Germans continued to calling for their support fire but to no effect and many opportunity targets came and went without success. During this time the American force had the use of air power but on every occasion it too failed to appear.

American armoured infantry with significant weapon support hide against bocage whilst placing fire support on the front of the town.

American infantry hopping from building to building on the western edge of the town. This was their only successful incursion into the town.

This is one heck of a slog of a scenario and very quickly the Americans realised that with increasing losses to their armoured support, the town was not going to give in easily and certainly not without further support. With that in mind the game came to the conclusion and the umpire decided that the Americans had not secured significant portion of the battlefield and that the Germans still held their line.

In short the Germans had stopped the Americans once again.

Now its on to the next battle in the scenario order and perhaps another German counter-attack can be expected?

The battle for Normandy and particularly the race to Blenneville continues!

Tim Whitworth

February 19, 2020 February 19, 2020/ Robert Avery

A couple of weeks ago we started to play the Blenneville or Bust! campaign set in 1944 Normandy and written by Robert Avery.

The Scenario

The first game was an attack/defence game with the Americans using a large reconnaissance force to probe for a river crossing point that could be used by their heavy armour. The scenario was set in an area of Normandy countryside containing a significant amount of high sided bocage hedgerows, making it the perfect position for a German defence.

I played the German side and Martin kindly umpired. The Americans were played by Jon and Barry.

The battlefield comprises a major road running from north to south along which the main American advance takes place; however they have the option of following a lesser quality track adjacent to the river which skirts the eastern flank of the battlefield.

Towards the northern end of the battlefield is an isolated farmstead and across the road from it a significant area of high ground to the west dominates the river valley area. To the south there is another small building adjacent to the bridge that crosses the river. It is this feature that the Americans are interested in. Their mission is to determine if this river crossing will take the weight of their heavy armour.

As mentioned before there is a significant amount of high hedgerow with a limited number of access points, such as openings or gateways. Without them anything less than a medium tank weight vehicle cannot penetrate the high earth banks and so this limits the Americans with their lighter reconnaissance armour considerably. It also to the contrary assist the German defensive player immensely, providing lots of opportunities to hide in hedgerows and field openings, lurking in ambush and awaiting their victims.

The Germans placed an advanced infantry section at the foot of the hill near the farm buildings surveying the two approach roads that the Americans could take. Acting rather as a sacrificial diode, they immediately exposed all emerging Allied Blinds entering the table and forcing the Americans to quickly review their battle plan.

The Germans placed their limited anti-tank capacity, in the form of two Panzerschreck teams; one in the farmyard and one in the hedgerows of the trackway near the river, should Americans choose that route as a fast bypass to reach the bridge.

Both teams would be kept well occupied throughout the game.

The Forces Involved

The Germans were rather limited in firepower; only having a couple of infantry platoons, some SdKfz 231 armoured cars and a couple of half-track mounted anti-tank guns.

On the other side, the American force was quite strong, with eight Greyhound armoured cars, numerous jeeps, a platoon of M5 Stuart light tanks and a reconnaissance platoon from the 425th Infantry Regiment. Anti-tank weapons and bazookas abound. They were also given on-table support from a couple of M8 Howitzer Motor Carriages. All in all a formidable force.

The Game

With the main American thrust shocked to discover the advanced German section, the action switched temporarily to the track adjacent to the river where Barry led a second reconnaissance platoon at full speed along the riverside. These too were surprised as lurking infantry platoons opened up with all their light machine guns and made numerous anti-tank assaults against the surprised reconnaissance team.

Despite all this difficulty the American attack on the western side of the battlefield successfully defeated the solo German section and quickly skirted up over the hill seeking a fast route down to the other side of the bridge which was defended by a solitary German armoured car. However in doing so they exposed themselves to fire from the centre of the table with Germans lining most hedgerows with infantry and their numerous light machine guns. These were also joined by fire from the improvised anti tank platoon of half track mounted 37 mm anti tank guns. Again there was considerable carnage.

With the eastern side US assault pinned against the river and slowly losing vehicle after vehicle from infantry assaults; the Germans went onto the counter attack launching their remaining armoured cars in a suicide charge up the hill. Firing their auto cannons as they went, the remaining US forces succumbed to the immense firepower and the American attack halted completely.

The Result

It was a resounding win for the Germans who had prevented the Americans from undertaking a successful reconnaissance of the river crossing.

An early setback for the Americans and one which will see the Germans launch a massive counter-attack in the next scenario.

Figures are all 20mm and from Martyn and my collections, and the terrain is from The Last Valley. We had to use some British armoured cars as we ran out of M8 Greyhound models!!

Tim Whitworth

The battlefield as seen from the south

The blue tiled building in the foreground is the bridge keeper's house and is defended by a lone German armoured car

Looking northwards with the high ground to the left-hand side of the picture

The central road runs parallel to the river and has significant amounts of high sided dense Normandy hedges along its route. These fields are only occasionally punctured with access routes and gateways and make swift advance almost impossible for the Americans.

American Greyhound armoured cars our quickly exposed as they advance along the main road

A strategically placed and sacrificial German infantry squad lay in wait in a copse on the northern slopes high ground which dominated the river valley.

German reconnaissance troops lie in wait

On the eastern track adjacent to the river, American reconnaissance troops are ambushed in a series of successful infantry anti-tank assaults

The American attack in this sector is halted almost immediately.

Advanced German anti-tank defences

A lone Panzerschreck team sits in the farmyard approach. Within a short time it manages to destroy two of the four reserve Stuart light tanks.

American reconnaissance jeeps are ambushed by a Panzerschreck team

The Americans attempt to counter cross battlefield fire by creating smokescreens

Finally the American armour arrives in the form of a Stuart light tank platoon

This quickly becomes the victim of a panzerschrek team lurking in the farm buildings (just off shot to the top right of the picture where the road junction forms). In the foreground numerous knocked out and disabled American armoured cars and jeeps litter the hillside.

The table looking from the North and along the river and the adjacent dirt track running parallel along the eastern table edge

This is where the American reconnaissance platoon came to grief at the hands of numerous German infantry close assaults.

An M8 Howitzer Motor Carriage attempts to provide support

Whilst a German SdKfz 250/10 with its 37mm anti-tank gun lays in wait in a gap in the hedgerows.

Defending the crossing point